Listen now | I sat down with journalist and author Michael Shellenberger to unpack the psychology of modern radicalism and why anti-ICE activists seem more interested in perpetual agitation than problem-solving.
Great pod as always. I am curious, have you actually read Rules for Radicals? (The ‘prop book.’) I dislike the dedication, but overall what struck me about it was everyone Alinsky was organizing to help truly suffered material discrimination - coal miners, African Americans facing violence, slum tenants before property codes. He’s not a boogeyman - but the problem is his methods being applied to inane ‘micro-aggressions’ on an institutional level by team blue in a way he probably never could have imagined. Would be interested in your thoughts.
ETA: I watched more pods and clearly John read this book! I am leaving the comment up in case it is interesting to others, I think this text is worth engaging with.
It strikes me that Michael says his parents divorce when he is 7 and he is hit by a truck when he is 8. I mean what happened there? He said his dad is “gone then”, but gone where?
This lack of fathers is profound and as Rob Henderson recently highlighted on the City Journal podcast, it’s not at all the lack of (the father’s) money. It’s the absence of the man that harms children.
Thank you for this interview! Michael’s religious conversion would be another great conversation. Your questions provide a basis for clear, complex discussions.
In one episode, you mentioned a Chinese man telling his fellows that even their teeth do not belong to them, but to the state. This is not rhetoric. The PRC has been harvesting organs from living people who are dissenters. A 2024 documentary titled "State organs" revealed this dark truth.
Great pod as always. I am curious, have you actually read Rules for Radicals? (The ‘prop book.’) I dislike the dedication, but overall what struck me about it was everyone Alinsky was organizing to help truly suffered material discrimination - coal miners, African Americans facing violence, slum tenants before property codes. He’s not a boogeyman - but the problem is his methods being applied to inane ‘micro-aggressions’ on an institutional level by team blue in a way he probably never could have imagined. Would be interested in your thoughts.
ETA: I watched more pods and clearly John read this book! I am leaving the comment up in case it is interesting to others, I think this text is worth engaging with.
I actually HAVEN'T read the book! But it's on my list for sure.
It strikes me that Michael says his parents divorce when he is 7 and he is hit by a truck when he is 8. I mean what happened there? He said his dad is “gone then”, but gone where?
This lack of fathers is profound and as Rob Henderson recently highlighted on the City Journal podcast, it’s not at all the lack of (the father’s) money. It’s the absence of the man that harms children.
Thank you for this interview! Michael’s religious conversion would be another great conversation. Your questions provide a basis for clear, complex discussions.
Good interview/podcast.
AWFL is good, but it misses indoctrinated. This demographic is targeted for indoctrination. AWFIL may be a more valuable acronym.
I thought the point of getting Maduro was because he was on the FBI most wanted
Drug wars
Perhaps you intended to comment on the top of the thread?
In one episode, you mentioned a Chinese man telling his fellows that even their teeth do not belong to them, but to the state. This is not rhetoric. The PRC has been harvesting organs from living people who are dissenters. A 2024 documentary titled "State organs" revealed this dark truth.